Improvement in melodeons



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IMPROVEMENT IN yI/IEIJODIIONS.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY OONOERN:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM COOPER, of Deposit, in the county of Broome, and State of New York, have `inventcd'certain new and useful Improvements in Melodcons and other reed-instruments of similar character;

and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a portion of this specification, in which- -Figure l is a vertical transverse section of a reed-instrument constructed according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a front view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both gurcs.

One of the defects which exist in vall melode ns, and other reed-instruments of similar character, is that, if all the reeds are tuned together atthe strongest pressure of the bellows, when the pressure of the bellows is diminished, the bass notes are too high in pitch for the treble, and quite loud. Attempts have been made to correct this defect, by means of arrautomatic connection of theswell with the bellows, but I propose, as a better means of accomplishing the same result, the employment of a device automatically` controlled by the bellowsreceiver, for the purpose of regulating the dip of the lower keys according to the pressure of air in the receiver, and thereby maintaining a uniform pitch throughout the scale, and enabling a more perfect' crescendo and diminuendo to be eifected by the bellows, leaving the swell to be operated in the usual manner; and in this Vdevice consists a part of this invention.

Another part of this invention relates to the use of two bellows, worked by separate treadles, and commu nicating with separate -receivers, for the purpose of playing loud in one portion of the scale, and soft in the other portion, when desired, and consists Vin providing, between the two receivers, a communication, which can,

,at the pleasure of the player, either be closed, for the purpose of playing in the above-mentioned manner, or

opened, to make the two receivers equivalent to a single receiver, operating alike cn all the reeds.

To enable others to understand the construction and operation of my invention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

` The receivers or wind-chests, of which there are two, are shown at A, and are separated from' each other by a vertical partition, a, furnished with openings a. Placed beside the partition a is a slide, 0, provided with openings, shown in dotted outline at 6', corresponding, in shape and size, with those, a', of the partition, and so situated that, when the slide isdrawn outward, the orifice thereof will be brought opposite to or continuous l,with those of the partition a, thus causing the two receivers to communicate, or open into each other, a'nd thu's form, as it were, a single receiver, while, when the slide is pushed inward, 'as shown in fig. 1, the said slide, by closing the orifice of the partition a, will cause-the two receivers to be wholly separated, so that they may act independently of each other. The reed-box of each receiver is Vplaced at or about the part c thereof, and connected with the keys B in the usual or in any suitable manner. l

Underneath each of the receivers A-is an exhauster, composed of a chamber, Ai, and bellows, 3*, the chamber A* having its back hinged or suspended at the top, as shown at a, and being formed with iiexible o r collapsible sides, in the same manner as the bellows, to permit the expansion and contraction of the saure. The

dat front and back of the chamber A* are pressed apart by a spring, a*, to bring the said chamber to itsgreatestcapacity, and the front of the bellows is forced back, to contract the same, by a `similar spring, 6*. Extending from the upper part of the front of each bellows is a cord, 0*, lwhich, passing over a pulley, a', has its opposite end attached to a pedal, d, in such manner that, by pressing downward the said pedal, the -bellows will have its front drawn forward, to expand the said bellows, as will hereinafter. more fully appear. i

The bellows of each exhauster communicates with the chamber A* thereof, by suitable orifices, b', formed in the front of the aforesaid chamber, or, in other words, in the'partition between the bellows and the chamber,

y as shown in iig. 1, the said orifices being provided, at the front side of such partition, with a exible valve, c,

the valve-holes oZ, in the front of the bellows, being furnished, of course, with the same or equivalent valves. Each of the chambers A* communicates with the receiver A, above it, by means of a passage, e.

The slide b being drawn outward, the two receivers arewholly separated thereby, as hereinbefore explained, and the bellows being operated by the pedals, to withdraw the air from the chambers Aa, and, consequently, from the receiver A, .the keys belonging to the reedsiof each receiver may be operated irrespective of those oi 'zaoso 2 the other, to make the note produced thereby softer or louder, as the ease may be, the two receivers, and the parts connected therewith, being operated independently of each other, so that the notes from the reeds of the two receivers may be made to differ in loudness, to any required degree, at the will of the player; but when it is desired that the reeds of both receivers should be of thc same loudncss, the slide is pushed inward, to open communication between the' two receivers, thus practically causingsthcm to constitute a single receiver, so that the same pressure will be exerted upon all the reeds, and the notes produced by the said reeds will be uniformly loud.

Attached to the upper end of the hinged or vibrating back of yeach chamber A*, is an inwardlyprojccting spur, shown in red outline at DX, in iig. 1, upon the extremity of which rests a vertically-sliding rod, E",Y the upper end of which is situated under one arm of a lever, shown at F*, the opposite arm of which extends underneath the outer-end portion of a lever, G, situated longitudinally at and above the front of the left-hand receiver, and pivoted at or near the centre ofthe key-board, as represented more fully'in iig. 2, the pivot being indicated at e', the said lever being situated underneath the forward or free extremities of the keys I, place'd above one of the receivers, so that, when the said keys are depressed7 they will strike the same. A small spring, (1*, placed under the forward arm ofthe lever F*, tends to force upward the said arm, and, consequently, the lever Gr, when the air is exhausted from the adjacent chamber A* by the action of the bellows connected therewith, as hereinbefore explained, the swinging back of such chamber being drawn inward to a distance proportioned to the degree of such exhaustion, whereupon the upward movement of theextremity of the spur D raises, to a proportionate extent, the sliding'rod'E*, the action of which, by depressing the forward arm of the lever Ft, lowers the lever G, the inclination of the upper surface of which is thus diminishedin a degree corresponding to that of the exhaustion of the air from the chamber -A*, or, what amounts to the same thing, from the receiver, and the object of which-may be thus explained:

It is found that, in varying the pressure of the air upon different reeds-for instance, upon one of the lower bass and one of the treble-tuned at the strongest pressure ordinarily employed thereon, the decrease in the pressure will cause them to become discordant, the bass notes being then too high in pitch for the treble, and quite loud.

Now, then, inasmuch as the exhaustion of uir from the left-hand receiver, or that by which the reeds producing the bass notes are operated, causes, as just described, a corresponding lowering of the lever G, and, as a consequencasenables the bass-keys to be depressed teja greater extent than would be the case if the exhaustion o f air from the receiver were less complete, this change in the dip or depression of the bass-keys causes or i enables them to keep notes in perfect accord with the treble notes, and thus overcomes the varying tendency hereinbefore set forth, the movement of the back of the chamber Af, connected with the bass notes, produced by the exhaustion of air from the said chamber, acting, as it moves, to automatically limit the movementof the bass-keys, in such manner as to secure uniformity between such bass notes and those of thetreble at all degrees of pressure upon the reeds, or, in,other words, of exhaustion from the-receivers.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- Y l. Graduating the dip or depression of the keys, by mechanism controlled by the receiver, substantially such as herein described, for the purposes specified.

,2. The ltwo receivers A, and the two, exhausters, with their operating-pedals, so combined that the aforesaid receivers may be worlxed, either together or separately, at the pleasure'of the player, substantially as herein set forth. v

3. The slide b, or equivalent device, arranged in such relation with thc two receivers that the latter may be eitherseparated or made to communicate with each other, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth. ly WILLIAM COOPER.

Witnesses:

Lucius P, ALLEN, A. L. SEUDEB. 

